


Encounter

by bugiblu



Category: NU'EST
Genre: Alternate Universe, Butler Cafe, Fluff, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-05-30
Updated: 2019-05-30
Packaged: 2020-03-29 19:44:49
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,989
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19026661
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/bugiblu/pseuds/bugiblu
Summary: Jonghyun just walked in to take cover from the rain, not realising what kind of café it was. Then he met the most beautiful eyes.





	Encounter

Jonghyun’s day had been terrible. He had woken up late in the morning and had to bike like crazy to make it to his morning lecture in time. While he had made it, he hit a bump just outside his university and now he had a flat tire. Just great. 

After handing it in at a repair shop close to campus, Jonghyun started the long walk home. It would take him at least 45 minutes to walk and he really needed to finish an assignment tonight. He did not make it far before he felt a raindrop hit his face. Then another one. Suddenly it was pouring and Jonghyun started to run. He still had a long way home and started to look around desperately. A sign. “Café”. Great! He quickly rushed towards the door and made it inside, quickly turning around to close the door behind him. 

“Welcome home master,” a deep masculine voice greeted him. Jonghyun nervously peered over his shoulder and saw a man dressed up in a butler uniform bowing to him. A butler café. Of all the cafés he could have walked into it had to be a butler café. He almost opened the door and walked out again, but his laptop bag was already drenched and he really could not afford his laptop breaking down. 

Jonghyun took a deep breath and turned around. He was met by the two most beautiful eyes he had ever seen, slightly angled and glittering deep brown. The man in the butler uniform eyed him curiously and asked “one person?” Jonghyun almost blushed as his eyes met the other man’s, and quickly tried to find something else to focus on. A name tag. Hwang Minhyun. Even his name was gorgeous. 

In a moment of clarity, Jonghyun realised that he had not replied to Minhyun’s question. “Yes,” he managed to reply. Minhyun smiled. “Please follow me, sir.” 

Jonghyun followed Minhyun to a secluded table in a corner. It was like he could read Jonghyun’s mind. While the café was quite empty because of the weather, Jonghyun still preferred to stay out of the curious looks the female patrons gave him. It was not like it was normal for men to visit butler cafés after all. 

“Here is the menu, sir.” Jonghyun distractedly looked up and met Minhyun’s eyes again. His stare was still too intense. Jonghyun felt his cheeks heat up and quickly took the menu to have an excuse to look away. Minhyun stayed next to Jonghyun’s table while he flipped through the menu and Jonghyun felt his stress increase. He should just pick something quickly to get this over with. He picked the first thing he saw “One vanilla latte please.” He immediately kicked himself. Vanilla latte? Really Jonghyun? Minhyun just smiled and took the menu. “I will be right back with your Vanilla Latte, sir.” And Jonghyun could finally breathe again as Minhyun walked away. 

Jonghyun quickly shook his head. He had to focus. His assignment was due soon and he really should not get distracted by a handsome butler café waiter at this time. Jonghyun took out his laptop and put it on the table. He opened his essay file and quickly got to work. When Minhyun returned with the vanilla latte, Jonghyun pretended to be busy with his essay and Minhyun quietly left his drink on the table. 

“Excuse me sir, we are closing now.” Minhyun’s voice surprised Jonghyun and he almost jumped. Meeting the other man’s eyes briefly, he then looked at his laptop’s clock. Already 8PM! He had gotten far too focused on his writing. While he had made quite big advances with the assignment, he had completely lost track of time. “I am so sorry, I lost track of time, I will pack up immediately” Jonghyun rambled to Minhyun who just smiled and told him to take his time as he hurriedly put his laptop back into his bag. Jonghyun then spotted his half-finished iced americano that he had ordered when Minhyun had asked if he wanted anything else as he took away Jonghyun’s finished vanilla latte. He reached after it the same time as Minhyun, and then immediately recoiled as their hands touched. With the quick movement, he also managed to knock over the glass. The liquid splattered on the table, the floor, and also Jonghyun. He felt the cold coffee dampen his pants and spot his white shirt. This really was not a good day.

After a moment of shocked silence, Minhyun immediately hurried to give him napkins to clean up, while Jonghyun flustered tried to apologise and started to clean up the table instead of himself. Minhyun put a hand over the hand wiping the table, lifted it, and gave him a new napkin and gestured to Jonghyun’s shirt. Minhyun then looked over the still frozen Jonghyun. “But maybe a napkin will not be enough. I have a spare change of clothes in the back that you can borrow, follow me.” He took Jonghyun’s hand again, and Jonghyun was too flustered to to anything but follow the other man.

“Here,” Minhyun said and handed Jonghyun a bundle of clothes he took out of a locker. “The toilet is just to the right,” Minhyun pointed out to him when Jonghyun hesitated. Jonghyun mumbled a quiet thank you and followed Minhyun’s direction to the toilet. In the mirror he could see that the stain was worse than he had thought. His shirt had several bigger coffee blotches, and also several smaller dots. Perfect day to wear a white shirt, he thought to himself sarcastically. Jonghyun quickly got out of his soiled clothes and put on Minhyun’s. The other man was taller than him, so he had to roll up the jeans a bit. The hoodie was maybe one size too big, giving him sweater paws. It was really comfortable and smelled good. Smelled good? Jonghyun focus! He thought to himself and shook his head to attempt to clear his thoughts. 

Jonghyun folded up his dirty clothes and opened the door. Minhyun was waiting for him, relaxedly leaning against a wall, looking at something on his phone. He looked up and put the phone in his pocket as he heard Jonghyun open the door. Minhyun took a step towards Jonghyun. “Ah, I found a bag for your clothes,” Minhyun said as he handed Jonghyun a plastic bag. Jonghyun hesitated a moment, then took the bag from Minhyun. “Thank you so much for helping me. I’m sorry for being a mess today,” Jonghyun said, while meeting Minhyun’s eyes once again.

Minhyun smiled, “it’s no problem at all.” The taller man looked at something behind Jonghyun. “I just need to clock out, then I’ll walk you out.” Jonghyun suddenly realised that Minhyun had changed too. He was wearing dark jeans now, with a sleek dark grey jacket over a simple white t-shirt. Somehow he looked even more handsome now than in his butler suit. 

Minhyun walked past Jonghyun and beckoned for him to follow. “Follow me,” Minhyun said as he turned his head back to see that Jonghyun did not fall behind. Jonghyun walked behind the other man as he clocked out, and then caught up with him at the door. He felt a bit awkward wearing Minhyun’s clothes and was looking forward to get out of the café and away from him. 

Minhyun easily opened the door with one hand. Then they both just stood still and stared. It was still pouring down. 

“Wait, I think we might have…” Minhyun trailed off as he turned around and started to look for something to the right of the door. “Ah!” he exclaimed a moment later, triumphantly holding up a black umbrella. His face instantly changed as he looked to Jonghyun again. “There is only one umbrella,” Minhyun said sheepishly. He then held it out to Jonghyun, “you can use it.” 

“No, I can’t take it, you already let me borrow your clothes, I can’t take your umbrella too!” Jonghyun protested. He already felt that he was taking advantage of Minhyun’s kindness, and he really could not accept the taller man giving him his umbrella too. 

Minhyun stopped awkwardly with his arms extended to hold out the folded umbrella to Jonghyun. “Ah, uhm, then maybe we can walk together?,” Minhyun said hesitantly. “What direction are you going?” 

“I am just going home, I live near Kyobo,” Jonghyun replied, unsure if he wanted Minhyun to say he was going in the same direction or not. However, the other man’s face brightened up with a big smile. “That is the same direction as me!” Minhyun beamed. 

The two men ended up sharing the umbrella on the way back. Minhyun turned out to be really talkative and got even Jonghyun to warm up and say more than one-word sentences. 

“Oh, I’m this way,” Jonghyun said when Minhyun was about to turn in another direction than Jonghyun’s place. It was only a couple blocks left now, and the rain has decreased until a light drizzle. He could get home without getting too wet, but somehow he was still hesitating to part with Minhyun. Almost as if Minhyun could tell, he angled his head slightly towards one side and looked at Jonghyun. “Would you be up for getting something to eat? I’m a bit hungry,” Minhyun asked. And Jonghyun got an excuse to stay a bit longer with the other man. 

Minhyun led the way to a small hole-in-the-wall ramen place. It was crowded for such a tiny place, but without being noisy, and Minhyun and Jonghyun managed to find two seats next to each other along the main table. Their knees brushed together for a moment while they were getting seated, and Jonghyun felt his heart rate increase for a moment. But then Minhyun adjusted his chair again and the contact broke. 

While they were eating Jonghyun got to know more about Minhyun. He was the same age as Jonghyun and had moved to Seoul from Busan to study. He had an older sister and loved to read. He had been practising to speak in a Seoul dialect when he was younger and had dreamed of being an actor. Minhyun also asked about Jonghyun, about his family, about his hometown and about his hobbies. They ended up bonding over a common love for Marvel movies and decided to watch the next one together. 

Minhyun always looked genuinely curious about Jonghyun’s replies to his questions and was listening carefully to every word. Jonghyun almost blushed at the focused attention, but also found it easy to share everything with the other man. 

Far too soon they finished their ramen and were leaving the restaurant. Jonghyun lived in the other direction than Minhyun from the restaurant, so they had to say goodbye there. 

The rain had stopped, so they had no excuse to walk together. Instead, Jonghyun hurried home alone. Once inside he threw himself in bed, feeling his cheeks heat up as he thought back on the day. The hoodie he was wearing still had a scent of Minhyun.

The next few days went by in a flurry. Between his regular classes and the assignment he still had to finish before the deadline, Jonghyun was buried in work. The clothes he had borrowed from Minhyun remained folded and washed in a paper bag by his door. 

But then, a few days later, he found himself, bag in hand, outside the butler café where Minhyun worked. Jonghyun hesitated a moment, but then opened the door and walked in. Already from just inside the door he could tell that the café was more crowded today than the rainy day he met Minhyun. 

A butler, not Minhyun, welcomed him “welcome my lord,” and bowed. “Ah, is Hwang Minhyun here today?” Jonghyun asked a bit awkwardly as the other butler rose up from the bow. The other butler eyed him curiously “are you friends with Minhyun? His shift starts in an hour. Do you want to sit down and order something while you wait?”

Jonghyun nodded, and the butler started leading him to a nearby table. “Um, is the table in the corner over there taken?” Jonghyun pointed towards the more secluded table he had sat out last time. The one he was currently at was far too exposed for his preference. “Of course,” the butler replied, “follow me,” and led Jonghyun to the corner table. 

Jonghyun sat down and put the bag with Minhyun’s clothes next to the chair. “Are you ready to order right away?” the butler asked. “Ah, um, one vanilla latte please.” The vanilla latte he had ordered on accident last time had been surprisingly tasty, and Jonghyun was hoping something sweet and milky would help him calm down far better than caffeine. 

The butler left after taking Jonghyun’s order, and Jonghyun curiously looked around the café a bit more. Last time he had both been distracted by his essay and a certain Hwang Minhyun to pay any attention to the café itself. It was cosy and lights a bit dim, but still good enough for the café to be instagrammable. All other guests that he could see were female. 

Jonghyun was happy to have his corner, and decided to take up his laptop and study a bit while waiting. He was done with the big assignment, but there was still smaller work to prep. Again, he got lost into his work until he suddenly felt a presence near him. Jonghyun looked up. Minhyun. Minhyun was standing next to him with a smile and happy sparkling eyes. 

“Jonghyun! You’re here!” Minhyun pulled out the chair next to Jonghyun and looked straight at him. “It hit me after we said goodbye that I never got your contact info, and then when I didn’t see you again for a week I was worried I wouldn’t see you again. But you’re here!” Minhyun exclaimed, and then looked a bit flustered and scratched his neck. Jonghyun could see his ears turn a bit red. “I was actually looking for you around campus and in the neighbourhood too, I’m happy we got to meet again.” Minhyun looked a bit shy. 

“I’m sorry!” Jonghyun blurted “I had to finish my assignment and didn’t go out much the past week. I didn’t have time until today.” Jonghyun leaned down to pick up the bag with Minhyun’s clothes. “I didn’t mean to keep these for as long!” He said, handing the bag to Minhyun who looked a bit confused, but accepted the bag. “Um, thank you,” Minhyun said while looking into the bag. 

He looked up at Jonghyun again. “Are you free tonight? I really want to talk more, but my shift is starting soon. I only work a couple of hours tonight. If you have time maybe we can get dinner together after?” There was almost something pleading in the way Minhyun looked at him, and Jonghyun could not turn him down. 

Jonghyun nodded. “Great! Should we meet by the GS25 near us at 7:30? Or are you planning to stay here and study?” Minhyun looked at Jonghyun’s laptop. “N-no, 7:30 sounds good! I was just finishing up something,” Jonghyun stuttered. Minhyun smiled again. “Okay! See you at 7:30!” Jonghyun watched Minhyun walk away towards the employee changing room, greeting other staff on the way. 

After that, Jonghyun could not focus. He tried to do a bit more work, but got distracted by seeing Minhyun attending to other patrons. Jonghyun decided to pack up and go home instead. And to get ready for his second dinner with Hwang Minhyun.

After that day it somehow became a habit for the two of them to get dinner together a couple times per week. After they changed contact info it got easier to coordinate, even if Jonghyun still visited the café a few times. They mostly went out to eat at one of the cheaper places nearby, but Jonghyun had also once invited Minhyun over and cooked omurice for him. Minhyun had told him it was the best omurice he had ever had. 

“Hey, Jonghyun?” Minhyun said one day walking home from the butler café together. “Do you want to eat at my place today? I’m not as good as cooking as you, but I was thinking I could make japchae?” Jonghyun smiled in reply. 

Minhyun’s apartment was really clean and neatly organised. The japchae had also been good in Jonghyun’s opinion, even if Minhyun tried to apologise for an imagined sogginess to the noodles. They were sitting at Minhyun’s table after they finished eating, just talking like normally. Jonghyun was not sure if he just imagined it, but somehow Minhyun seemed a bit nervous. 

Jonghyun’s palms felt sweaty all of a sudden and he absentmindedly wiped them against his pants. The more he had gotten to know Minhyun, the more he had fallen for the other man. He really enjoyed their dinners together. He would love for them to eat together every day, but he did not want to impose too much on Minhyun. 

“Jonghyun?” Minhyun suddenly said, his ears getting red. Jonghyun also felt a bit nervous. His eyes met Minhyun’s. “...I like you,” Minhyun finished. He was looking at Jonghyun for confirmation. Jonghyun could first only blush and nod. “...I like you too,” he managed to whisper. Minhyun leaned towards Jonghyun. “Is this okay?” Minhyun also whispered. Jonghyun nodded again, and then he felt Minhyun’s lips softly push against his own. 

That rainy day had gone from one of the worst to one of the best days in Jonghyun’s life. One fateful encounter had changed his life to better than he could have dreamed of before stepping into that café. And now he was here, with Hwang Minhyun lovingly gazing at him and leaning in for another kiss. Destiny really works in its own way sometimes, and Jonghyun could not be happier for it.


End file.
